[W126 Coupe] Electrical / start problem

[Shin Takei]

 Dick,
To have a mechanic as a friend is great. I have one, too, Steve Beck. Unfortunately he's an independent BMW mechanic. I don't have a BMW but his passion and side business is classic Fords. Lots of Hot Rods, Shelbys, Mustangs,Model Ts and flat heads.? Last week my brother and I went up to the Monterey weekend in his '66 Mustang Fastback hot rod. The car has a 289 4 barrell carb with roller rockers and tri-Y headers conncted to Magna-flows out back. While I was driving, the car started to do small lurches, then it got bigger and finally it got real rough. I thought it was fuel starvation. My brother throught it was electrical since he just installed new concourse-correct plug wires. We pulled to the side of the road and he inspected the wires and openned the distributor. Everything looked normal. At this time we called Steve because it was 4:45 on Friday and he was still there at his shop wrenching BMWs. We explained to him the symptoms and he said take the distributor cap off 
 and look at the points while one of us cranks the engine. Well nothing happened as the screws holding the dual points had worked itself loose. He told us to set the gap with a business caard, screw it tight and see what happens. Well it fired right up and we were back in business. Although not as crisp as before, we were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

A mechanic helps you out on the road stranded all over the phone. Now if I can find a Mercedes mechanic like Steve.

Cheers,

Shin


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Spellman <dick.spellman at gmail.com>
To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists <mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com>
Sent: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 4:20 pm
Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] Electrical / start problem










Hi Shin,
Very close friends as it turns out.? He collects older MB's (barn with a dozen or so now) and I usually run to his shop late Sat or on Sunday and use his lift and equipment for projects.? It is one of the reasons I am fearless on these older cars.? If I have something unknown before me, he's a call or visit away in all cases.


Regards,
Dick


On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 9:54 PM, Shin Takei <shinzbox at aol.com> wrote:




 Dick,





 Wow, I'm glad you are friends with your wrench enough to have coffee. I will definitely look into it.



Thanks



Shin






 



-----Original Message-----

From: Dick Spellman <dick.spellman at gmail.com>



To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists <mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com>

Sent: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 1:31 pm

Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] Electrical / start problem



















Hi Shin,



My independent mechanic and I met today for coffee.? I explained your symptoms.? He suggests you check the ignition switch connector where the harness meets the back of the ignition key assembly.? He's seen the behavior you describe on other MB's and says it's a $20 MB dealer part but, he charges $200 with labor to do the repair.





Good luck,

Dick





On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 5:21 PM, Shin Takei <shinzbox at aol.com> wrote:



Hi all,


Recently my '91 560 SEC has had slow starting. When the ignition is turned on, all the lights in the instrument panel come on and when cranked, it is slow and the wiper turns on without the switch being on.? Then it starts and maintains until the engine is shut off and the same is repeated. All indicator lights including charging turns off when the engine is on. This has been going on for at least two weeks so I checked the battery voltage which reads 12.45 with engine off and 13.65 with engine on. So it can't be the battery and it seems to be charging. Any ideas on what it could be? Some short along the way? dieing regulater?




Thanks to all of you experts.





Shin




 




The MB Coupes Website!


W126 SEC Mailing List


Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.












 






The MB Coupes Website!

W126 SEC Mailing List

Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.





 


 




The MB Coupes Website!

W126 SEC Mailing List

Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.







 





The MB Coupes Website!
W126 SEC Mailing List
Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.



 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/mbcoupes/attachments/20080824/e543d737/attachment.htm>